FEDERAL Employment Minister Eric Abetz says unemployed people just need to "try even harder" to find work as Bendigo faces one of regional Victoria's highest youth unemployment rates.

The Senator visited Bendigo on Monday, meeting with three local manufacturing businesses and the offices of Sureway Employment and Training.

Senator Abetz said his philosophy on job creation was "where there's a will, there's a way".

"Dedication is required for young people," he said.

"There's no doubt it is tough, but I would simply encourage them to try even harder when times are tougher, and they will ultimately succeed."

From July 1 next year, the Federal Government plans to introduce measures that would require the unemployed to apply for 20 jobs per month, attend a minimum of one meeting at an employment agency per month and participate in the Work for the Dole program.

Another initiative is the jobs commitment bonus, which rewards people for staying in employment for 12 and 24 months.

Senator Abetz said now that Parliament had ended for the year, he wanted to "get out into the real world and find out what's happening on the ground".

"We want to continue to learn what else we can do to make the system even better," he said.

Unemployment in Bendigo sat at just below 7 per cent, with youth unemployment averaging 22.8 per cent in the three months to September.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also found there were 4700 unemployed people in Bendigo. On Monday, an online jobs website had 305 jobs listed in the Bendigo, Macedon Ranges and Goldfields regions.

Member for Bendigo East Jacinta Allan was announced as Victoria's new Employment Minister last Thursday. Senator Abetz said he "looked forward" to meeting with the new Victorian minister, "regardless of political colours".

Following the visit, Senator Abetz travelled on to Ballarat for the remainder of his visit to central Victoria.

Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters said Mr Abetz should have met with schools, skills providers and others involved in the employment process during his visit to Bendigo.

"Senator Abetz needs to work harder to help create jobs, rather than telling young people they need to try harder to get work," she said.

“The next time Senator Abetz visits Bendigo he should come with a plan on how his government is going to create jobs local people can count on."

The plan requiring the jobless to apply for 20 jobs had been scaled back from 40 earlier this year. Employment agencies would distribute resumes to relevant employers, aiding the unemployed in the process.

Ms Chesters said the plan would do little to support jobs.

“The fact is that there are far more job seekers than jobs in central Victoria," she said.

"I fail to see how sending 20 applications every month is also not meaningless – it will create more work and red tape for local small businesses who will have to process these applications each and every month."